How do you chaps clean a paint brush so that next time you wish to use it - its just like the day you purchased it :embarrassed:

So far, when I have finished the job, I have cleaned the brush in water or mineral turps and then left the brush in a container of clean thinning material and forgot about it. Next time I wanted the brush, the liquid has evaporated and brush hairs become a solid block >:( >:(

If you have used water soluble paint then soap and water is the cleanser. For oil based paint (as others have said) I use a proprietary brush cleaner even though it is unavailable in my part of France (everyone seems to use turps. substitute). I buy a bulk lot when in the UK. I use it as I find it superior. However, I do suspend my brushes for a day or two in the cleaner, using one of the "pots" supplied free with the cleaning solution, these usually have a lid which is made of flexible material with a slit which grips the brush handle and ensures that the bristles are not resting on the bottom of the container thereby distorting them. With very fine/slim handled brushes I double/quadruple an elastic band around the handle to stop it descending too far.

Then a couple of days later, rinse with copious quantities of soap and water, finally clean, soapless water. Afterwards wrap the bristles in a strip of newspaper and secure with a twist um or elastic band, this will ensure the bristles finally dry straight.

An old tradesman I knew recommended applying the thinnest smear of linseed oil to the clean dry brush before storage.

This may sound like an elaborate process but I only buy very good quality brushes and so they deserve looking after. I just find there to be a world of difference between a good brush and a "use it and throw it" brush. Some of my brushes are 50 years old!

At one time i would by cheep but in the long run cost me more >>:-( have got a set now all tough not cheep should last a long time they are very good not had to pick one bristles off my paint work since i started to use them one tip use kitchen towel to get rid of exes paint before you put them in your thinners in between coats. O0 make ITALERI they all have blue handles

Same as said ,clean them imediately. i have an old oxyclean tub with turps in the bottom which i clean my brushes then dry them on an old towel (keep the wife happy) and then stand it upright in my rack .My next thing is to get some fine mesh and make a filter to put in the bottom of my cleaning tub (there must be on available somewhere) so i can rub the brushes clean on that,then dry as normal.I have han my small brushes for two years now and they still look good .daz

Just to add another small point to cleaning tips, heres my way to give your brush that final shake. Get some car repair mesh and a nice wide sized container, place the container on the mesh and use a marker pen to run a rough circle on the mesh round the bottom of it, (About half inch wider than the container) and another circle tight against the container. You should now have two circles on the mesh, cut out on the outer circle then make cuts every inch or half inch from the outer to the inner circle, bend these cut pieces upwards and it should now drop down in your container, you can now place your wet brush in the container and scrub it against the grill. If you wish you can part fill the container with whatever cleaner you wish or make another so you can use one for wet and one for dry. Harry

thank you big H that is exactly what i am after ,i just could not picture how to do it .On the subject of drying ,one thing that makes me smile is when watching 'simply painting' on the discovery channel where Bob Ross would after washing his brush "beat the heck out of it " on his easle {-) .daz

One piece of instruction in my above lesson on a cleaning grill has dissapeard, When you drop your grill into the container make sure that the bent over pieces are FACE DOWN this will raise the grill up from the bottom so that any muck will drop out of the way of the brush Harry

after reading this posting and gathering ideas i have made a brush cleaning tub/grill(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u176/darran77/DSC00046.jpg)first things first ,i aquired a splatter mesh thingy from the pound shop and cut it to size (http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u176/darran77/DSC00047.jpg)then i cut it to fit inside the tub where the cleaning stuff would be (http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u176/darran77/DSC00048.jpg)popped it in the tub and then filled it just above the mesh and hey presto a brush cleaning tub {-) daz

Reading the posts on this subject I really think I am doing something wrong. I use 4 brushes. 2 pointy ones and 2 flatties. When I had access to (tons of) diesel oil I used to clean the brushes in that (or avcat). A quick dry-off and use the brush again. Same applies now, except I use "brush cleaner". 20 seconds and use another colour. Perhaps you (we) are all getting a bit paranoid on "purity"? May I suggest you just clean the damn brush and get on with the job.